Eat local, organic, in-season foods

Tags: cooking-ingredients sustainable-cooking

This tip is part of the Mastering the Art of Sustainable Cooking contest.
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Domestically produced food travels an average of 1,500 miles between the farm and the table, and conventional agriculture involves enormous quantities of fossil fuels and pesticides. Organic food grown and raised in your own community is fresher, and often better for you and the environment.

All the same, it’s important to remember that local and organic foods don’t always have a smaller carbon footprint. It depends on the details of how they were grown, processed, and transported. Avoiding out-of-season produce like tomatoes in January is a pretty safe bet. But especially with meat and dairy, there’s no easy way to tell whether organic or local means a smaller climate impact. Nevertheless, when you buy locally produced food you can be sure that you’re supporting your community.

How do you reduce your carbon cookprint by incorporating seasonal, local, and organic foods?

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